In fact if you are looking for a job don't read it. A lot of bad remarks in this post. 3. Delete the objective statement. No way most of the cover letter don't cut it through email, my advice is to have a concise nice piece written on the Resume ultimately this is what the HR will print in his/her piles of resumes. advice: keep it ! 5. Add new activities to your resume. No way, don't wait space on your resume, in a today markets a lot people will apply to the same job you want to apply, keep focus on the job, your hobbies activities were great people had time to enjoy, this not 2006 anymore wake up ! 8. Omit your mailing address. NO ! and this is the worst advice from the dumblittleguy post (she earned this name right ? This how you can post there ?), look at the job market most of the offers are: "No relocation considered, local candidates only, Permanent resident or citizen only." Employers not gonna pay for your move they want you now, ready and able, how could they know where you live if you don't put your address, that's a very bad advice.
My tips:
- I have a 9 page resume, all of it relevant. It's quite detailed but I have a "career in a nutshell" summary as my front page. People can scan or delve in as much as they want to.
- Being in IT, I have a technical skills matrix. This gives me a chance to feed in all those buzzwords that the resume scanners look for, and beside each skill I put down my level of proficiency from 1 - 5 and last year of use/example of use. I find this gives employers a little more confidence in my abilities.
- Use tables, not fonts to space stuff out.
- Keep your pages numbered, and have your name and contact details on the header or footer of every page so that people remember who you are and how to reach you.
- Be memorable in your resume. After reading 50 of these things they all tend to blue into one. Back in the old days when you used to print out a copy of the resume to give to the employer in your interview, I used to print mine on slightly different colored paper to stand out. Now I make sure I attach a cover letter to each application outlining why I should be hired/what I can add to the company.
- Not necessarily a resume writing tip but befriend your recruitment agent. It's a very small industry and I get most of my gigs through one or 2 agents. Remember that a large proportion of jobs get filled before they are even advertised and therefore you need to become your agent's best friend so they think of you first. Keep in touch with your agents even when you are not actively looking for work, sending them good candidates or recommending them if your company is looking for an agency. I used to go overboard and every time I visited an agent I would bring them krispy kremes, but it worked ;)
I am a non-HR Project Manager who hires and has looked at approximately 150 resumes over the past month. I both agree and disagree with the article, so I offer my humble 2 cents: 1. Leave off the mission statement. We don't care. You want a job. You want this job. Enough said. 2. If you omit your living address, we will assume that you are trying to hide something. If your current location needs explanation, put it in the cover letter. 3. If you are a senior level person, the company might contribute something to moving expenses, if they want you bad enough. But that is to be negotiated once you are offered the position, along with salary. 4. Typos, bad grammar, and bad punctuation will put you in the dumpster. Have someone literate proofread both your resume AND cover letter. I use the cover letter to help determine if the person can write. This is just my opinion. It may not apply in all situations, of course. Just MHO.
- I have a 9 page resume, all of it relevant. It's quite detailed but I have a "career in a nutshell" summary as my front page. People can scan or delve in as much as they want to.
- Being in IT, I have a technical skills matrix. This gives me a chance to feed in all those buzzwords that the resume scanners look for, and beside each skill I put down my level of proficiency from 1 - 5 and last year of use/example of use. I find this gives employers a little more confidence in my abilities.
- Use tables, not fonts to space stuff out.
- Keep your pages numbered, and have your name and contact details on the header or footer of every page so that people remember who you are and how to reach you.
- Be memorable in your resume. After reading 50 of these things they all tend to blue into one. Back in the old days when you used to print out a copy of the resume to give to the employer in your interview, I used to print mine on slightly different colored paper to stand out. Now I make sure I attach a cover letter to each application outlining why I should be hired/what I can add to the company.
- Not necessarily a resume writing tip but befriend your recruitment agent. It's a very small industry and I get most of my gigs through one or 2 agents. Remember that a large proportion of jobs get filled before they are even advertised and therefore you need to become your agent's best friend so they think of you first. Keep in touch with your agents even when you are not actively looking for work, sending them good candidates or recommending them if your company is looking for an agency. I used to go overboard and every time I visited an agent I would bring them krispy kremes, but it worked ;)
I am a non-HR Project Manager who hires and has looked at approximately 150 resumes over the past month. I both agree and disagree with the article, so I offer my humble 2 cents: 1. Leave off the mission statement. We don't care. You want a job. You want this job. Enough said. 2. If you omit your living address, we will assume that you are trying to hide something. If your current location needs explanation, put it in the cover letter. 3. If you are a senior level person, the company might contribute something to moving expenses, if they want you bad enough. But that is to be negotiated once you are offered the position, along with salary. 4. Typos, bad grammar, and bad punctuation will put you in the dumpster. Have someone literate proofread both your resume AND cover letter. I use the cover letter to help determine if the person can write. This is just my opinion. It may not apply in all situations, of course. Just MHO.
Keep it at one page. I know for people that have been in the business world for years it can be hard, but going through 3-5 pages resumes (as a designer) I don't understand why someone feels the need to tell an employer they worked for Sear/Roebuck as a stock room manager back in 1975. Pick highlights from the last 3 -4 jobs, a quick area on education, skills, organizations, and get out. This should be enough for most.
Oh, and for the love of Fozzie, proofread it yourself and by at least 2 other people.
Oh, and for the love of Fozzie, proofread it yourself and by at least 2 other people.
How to Write a Resume That Will Land an Interview
Many people haven’t looked at their resume in years; they haven’t needed to. But in 2009’s collapsed economy, jobs are shaking out like coins from a piggy bank.
If you’ve been laid off or you’re worried you might be, blow the dust off your old resume and bring it back to life. Whether you are just updating or starting from scratch (who knew those floppies would become obsolete?), these steps will help you create an honest, positive resume.
- Understand the resume’s purpose.
Your resume and cover letter are tools to land a job interview. Not the job, just the interview. Think of a resume as a fact sheet and a cover letter as an explanation of those facts. Lose sight of this and you may overwrite, over explain and convolute.
But a resume is also your public relations advocate and should be flattering. Maybe your record isn’t long or perfect, but don’t let your resume knock you out of contention before you have a chance to talk your way into the job.
- Research resume templates and cherry-pick what to use.
Look at sample resumes for your field. Check out: www.resumetemplates.org, or www.collegegrad.com/resumes.
Once you find a template or format that makes sense for your goals and experience, don’t feel you must follow its structure exactly.
- Delete the objective statement.
Your objective is to get the job; you know it, the employer knows it. Unless you really need to fill space, explain your objectives in your cover letter. Cover letters allow you to tailor your goals to the job you are applying for and creating a good cover letter is key.
- Add creative space, if necessary.
If you don’t have much experience, your credentials can look pretty lonely on the page. No one expects a young person to have as much to say as a person who has been working for twenty years. The results of thoughtful spacing? An easy-to-read resume.
- Add new activities to your resume.
Volunteer at the soup kitchen or the animal shelter. Get active in your community. If you volunteer at something related to the field you want to work in, everyone wins. Add this activity to your resume immediately.
- Think creatively about your accomplishments.
Some of your achievements may not have happened within the confines of a job. For example, if you worked on a major research project in school, you can describe your project and the skills it developed. Here is a list of resume action words that may help jumpstart your memory.
- List jobs first, and in reverse order.
List your most recent job at the top and the rest in descending order. This is the order employers/recruiters expect to see your experience; don’t disappoint or confuse them. A rare exception to the rule: if you are graduated from a prestigious college and you’re working at a filler job. All you Harvard degree graduates who are scooping ice cream, list your Harvard education first.
- Omit your mailing address.
Who is going to contact you by snail mail anyway? Your email address and cell phone number is all anyone needs to contact you. With your resume floating around the internet, keep some information private.
- Figure out what keywords are relevant and use them.
Some HR folks don’t read resumes any more. They have software that scans resumes for relevant keywords. Use nouns, like the names of the computer programs you know. Read tons of job descriptions and notice which words are used over and over.
- Include accomplishments in addition to responsibilities.
If you made a suggestion that your boss used, if you saved your company money, if you streamlined the work process, it counts. Don’t be shy about highlighting accomplishments on your resume. Back them up with statistics, if possible. How much money did you save the company? What percentage of the budget was it?
- Keep the resume concise.
Stick to one page, unless you have been working ten or fifteen years. If early jobs are not relevant, leave them off.
- Never stop revising.
Your resume can always be improved so keep tweaking it. Add a better word, a better phrase, a new accomplishment. Keep old versions of your resume in case you need information that you previously deleted.
Warnings
- Don’t Lie.
You knew this would be on the list. Employers routinely check job histories and education claims. Lies about either your job history or degree are the easiest for employers to uncover. The newly named dean of admissions at MIT lied on her resume when applying for a clerical job twenty-eight years ago. With the promotion in the works, her lies were discovered and she was fired. Never lie!
- Omit the Ugly.
Mediocre grade point average? Leave it off. Have a 4.0? Put it front and center. Not all information is mandatory. Some people omit listing jobs they only held a short time or that might give them a bad reference. However, if the omission creates a gap that you are asked about in an interview, remember tip number one: don’t lie.
- Mind the Gap
I know someone who waitressed a couple of years after college. She omits her graduation year from her resume so there is no obvious hole, but no lies either.
Having a solid resume ready to send someone is important. Whether you need a job now or not, you never now when an opportunity will present itself and you'll be asked to submit a resume. Clean yours up and be ready to shine!
Your resume and cover letter are tools to land a job interview. Not the job, just the interview. Think of a resume as a fact sheet and a cover letter as an explanation of those facts. Lose sight of this and you may overwrite, over explain and convolute.
But a resume is also your public relations advocate and should be flattering. Maybe your record isn’t long or perfect, but don’t let your resume knock you out of contention before you have a chance to talk your way into the job.
Look at sample resumes for your field. Check out: www.resumetemplates.org, or www.collegegrad.com/resumes.
Once you find a template or format that makes sense for your goals and experience, don’t feel you must follow its structure exactly.
Your objective is to get the job; you know it, the employer knows it. Unless you really need to fill space, explain your objectives in your cover letter. Cover letters allow you to tailor your goals to the job you are applying for and creating a good cover letter is key.
If you don’t have much experience, your credentials can look pretty lonely on the page. No one expects a young person to have as much to say as a person who has been working for twenty years. The results of thoughtful spacing? An easy-to-read resume.
Volunteer at the soup kitchen or the animal shelter. Get active in your community. If you volunteer at something related to the field you want to work in, everyone wins. Add this activity to your resume immediately.
Some of your achievements may not have happened within the confines of a job. For example, if you worked on a major research project in school, you can describe your project and the skills it developed. Here is a list of resume action words that may help jumpstart your memory.
List your most recent job at the top and the rest in descending order. This is the order employers/recruiters expect to see your experience; don’t disappoint or confuse them. A rare exception to the rule: if you are graduated from a prestigious college and you’re working at a filler job. All you Harvard degree graduates who are scooping ice cream, list your Harvard education first.
Who is going to contact you by snail mail anyway? Your email address and cell phone number is all anyone needs to contact you. With your resume floating around the internet, keep some information private.
Some HR folks don’t read resumes any more. They have software that scans resumes for relevant keywords. Use nouns, like the names of the computer programs you know. Read tons of job descriptions and notice which words are used over and over.
If you made a suggestion that your boss used, if you saved your company money, if you streamlined the work process, it counts. Don’t be shy about highlighting accomplishments on your resume. Back them up with statistics, if possible. How much money did you save the company? What percentage of the budget was it?
Stick to one page, unless you have been working ten or fifteen years. If early jobs are not relevant, leave them off.
Your resume can always be improved so keep tweaking it. Add a better word, a better phrase, a new accomplishment. Keep old versions of your resume in case you need information that you previously deleted.
You knew this would be on the list. Employers routinely check job histories and education claims. Lies about either your job history or degree are the easiest for employers to uncover. The newly named dean of admissions at MIT lied on her resume when applying for a clerical job twenty-eight years ago. With the promotion in the works, her lies were discovered and she was fired. Never lie!
Mediocre grade point average? Leave it off. Have a 4.0? Put it front and center. Not all information is mandatory. Some people omit listing jobs they only held a short time or that might give them a bad reference. However, if the omission creates a gap that you are asked about in an interview, remember tip number one: don’t lie.
I know someone who waitressed a couple of years after college. She omits her graduation year from her resume so there is no obvious hole, but no lies either.
- I've hired many people over the past 30 years, some with the exact experience required and some without anything.
*Do your homework about the company.
* Speaks to character traits and skills. Excellent organizational skills are a huge asset whatever the job is as you are informing a potential employer that you are disciplined, can keep yourself and others on task, and implies that you can manage whatever is thrown at you.
When at an interview speak to a personal process for managing your work. This is a biggy for me and always hire anyone who independently works it into an interview. I know I'll never have to baby them along. People who can articulate this in their approach to meeting a work goal are always self starters. (All you are really doing is making a progressive list and have thought through the various things you need to do and have identified potential barriers.)
i would also recommend http://www.esampleresume.comfor bunch of templates
Related links to click
Top 10 Ways to Rock Your Resumé
Keep Resume Content Brief to Avoid Being Passed Over
Cover Letter for Resume
Everybody who sends a resume, must always send a cover letter with it, whether the resume is dropped in the office, sent by fax or delivered in electronic format through email.
Everybody who sends a resume, must always send a cover letter with it, whether the resume is dropped in the office, sent by fax or delivered in electronic format through email.
